Wan Saiful Wan Jan (Chairman)

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs

Wan Saiful, Founding Chief Executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (www.IDEAS.org.my), boarded at Sekolah Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur, and then Tonbridge School, England. He holds a BA (Hons) in Management (Northumbria, UK) and an MSc in Research Methodologies (Middlesex, UK). Wan Saiful lived in the United Kingdom between August 1993 and October 2009. There he worked for several organisations, including the think tank Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit, the British Conservative Party’s Research Department, and Social Enterprise London. He was vice chair of Luton Conservative Association (2007–2009) and Head of Policy for the Conservative Muslim Forum (2007-2009). In May 2007, he contested in the English local elections as a Conservative Party candidate.

Ozlem Caglar Yilmaz (Coordinator)

General Coordinator at Association for Liberal Thinking

Ozlem Caglar-Yilmaz is the member of the Board and the executive director of ALT. She has been with ALT since she was an undergraduate student, since 1993. She has decided to work on investing in ideas after being involved in politics and some business in younger ages. She speaks on civil society, liberal democracy and on Turkey’s democratization and liberalization; on institutional development; delivers guidance on how to effectively disseminate ideas and to develop interest on ideas of liberty. She writes commentaries; translates, and edits articles and books, develops and conducts collaborative projects, organizes training seminars, conferences and workshops with opinion leaders and intellectual entrepreneurs. She is the editor of the online commentary in Turkish www.hurfikirler.com. Yılmaz studied politics and public administration at Hacettepe University, Ankara.

    Atilla Yayla (President)

    Professor of Politics

    Atilla Yayla (1957-03-03) is a Turkish political thinker and a proponent of liberal democracy. He is Professor of Politics, Political Economy and Political Philosophy at Istanbul Commerce University in Turkey.and head of Department of International Relations. He received his BA in economics at Ankara University, earned his MA and Ph.D in political science. He had been a visiting professor at George Mason University, USA, at University of Buckingham, UK. He was the winner of the Anthony Fisher Prize in 2000 for his book “Islam, Civil Society and Market Economy”. Atilla Yayla was awarded the Person of the Year Award by the Stockholm Network. Yayla is a member of the Mont Pellerin Society. Prof. Atilla Yayla is the cofounder and currently president of the Association for Liberal Thinking which was founded in 1992. Yayla has contributed to the Turkish literature on classical liberal ideas with translations of many classics and modern works from such as Hayek, Bastiat, Norman Barry, Mark Pennington, Jason Brennan.

    Some of his books in Turkish are: Liberalism, Liberal Approaches, The Road to Freedom, Introduction to Political Theory, Comparative Political Systems, Economics and Life, Kamalism.

    He currently holds a coloumn at Yeni Safak national daily.

      Syed Kamall

      Member of the European Parliament

      Syed became a Member of the European Parliament in May 2005. He has been a member of the Conservatives since 1987 and has been a member of Vauxhall, Bath, Westminster, West Ham and Barking Conservative Associations.  Since November 2007, Syed has been Treasurer of the Conservatives in the European Parliament.

      Linda Whetstone

      Chairman of Network for a Free Society

      Linda Whetstone is Chairman of Network for a Free Society and a member of the boards of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Mont Pelerin Society, Istanbul Network for Liberty and British Dressage. She runs a small business in Sussex with her husband and writes on agricultural, trade, and development issues. She is also daughter of IEA founder, Sir Antony Fisher.

        Azhar Aslam

        Plastic Surgeon/ CEO /Author

        Dr Aslam trained in Surgery for ten years; out of which five and a half years was in Plastic Surgery in the NHS. Pursuing his chosen speciality of Plastic Surgery, he was awarded a scholarship by the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians, Glasgow, which took him to Louisiana, USA, for a Fellowship in 1996. He furthered his expertise in Cosmetic Surgery, training and working in America , Mexico and Germany, obtaining a Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons in 1999. Azhar continued to work in the NHS, finally working as Consultant Plastic Surgeon at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, where he helped set up a specialist hand unit. He left the NHS in 2000 to work privately and has since built up a private Cosmetic Surgery practice in Harley Street, London. Azhar works from other clinics located across the UK as well. He has worked actively with the Department of Health, IHA and expert groups to improve the regulation of the cosmetic surgery industry. He has worked as panel advisor to the European Academy for Cosmetic Surgery and was the Academic Secretary of the British Association of Cosmetic Surgeons.

          Ali Salman

          Policy Research Institute of Market Economy

          He is a development consultant, policy entrepreneur and economic analyst based in Islamabad. He is Director of the recently established Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) and he has worked as a consultant and trainer for major international development organizations, public sector organizations and non-profits. He has held a Gulbright scholarship, Royal Netherlands Fellowship and Charles Wallace Fellowship and has master degrees in Economics, Public Policy and Business Administration.

              Bilal Sambur

              Yildirim Beyazit University

              He received his PhD at the Department of Theology, at the University of Birmingham, UK. He served as a lecturer in Islamic Studies in Birmingham. He interned at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Michigan, US. His areas of expertise are religious philosophy, Christian theology, modern Islamic thought, spirituality in world religions, interfaith relations, politics and religions. He is the director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Liberty of ALT where he leads the study of an annual report of Religious Freedom apart from other researches.

                Souad Adnane

                Arab Center for Scientific Research and Humane Studies

                Souad Adnane, is a women’s rights activist in Morocco. She served as a project coordinator for five years in different local and international NGOs. She is currently in charge of coordinating and monitoring a community development program aiming at improving life conditions of vulnerable populations in the MENA region. She is also the Foreign Relations Coordinator of the Arab Center for Scientific Research & Humane Studies.

                  Nouh Elharmouzi

                  Ibn Toufail University

                  He is Editor of the Arabic-language news and analysis site MinbarAlHurriyya.org (http://minbaralhurriyya.org/) of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation/Cato Institute (USA) and university professor at Ibn Toufail University in Kenitra, Morocco. He is also Director of the Arab Center for Scientific Research and Humane Studies, the newly created Arab think tank based in Morocco. He served as a university professor for five years at Paul Cézanne University in France, teaching Economic Development Theories and Economic Philosophy & Thought. His main research focus is on institutional dynamics, ideological beliefs, and their relationship with the process of development. He published many articles and research papers in various periodicals and wrote “Underdevelopment in the Arab-Muslim world: what is the role of non-formal institutions?” [Le sous-développement dans le monde arabo-musulman: Quel est le rôle des institutions informelles?]

                  Edo Omercevic

                  Center for Advancement of Free Enterprise

                  Edo Omerčević has gone through more than a decade of training in economics and finance. He started his tertiary education at the International Islamic University Malaysia where he obtained his Bachelor in Economics (Hons) as well as his Master of Economics degree. He is currently a Ph.D. in Economics candidate at the International University of Sarajevo. His interest and specialization is in the field of money and banking, with special reference to complementary and alternative currencies and monetary systems. Mr Omerčević is freelance economist and a co-founder of the Center for Advancement of Free Enterprise (Centar za poslovnu afirmaciju) that is promoting free market ideas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

                    Hicham Elmoussaoui

                    Professor of Economics

                    Hicham El Moussaoui  is  a Professor of Economics at the  University of Sultan Moulay Slimane, Morocco. His  Research fields incorporate: Cooperation in social dilemmas, economic analysis of institutions and development, incentives, economic freedom, Islamic economy.

                      Adedayo Thomas

                      Liberal Advocate at AfricanLiberty.org

                      Adedayo Thomas is a Nigerian, affiliated with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation as the Publisher and Director of Outreach of its AfricanLiberty.org program. He is a libertarian and strives to promote ideas of the free society in the core institutions English speaking African countries; Adedayo has a B.A. in Theatre Arts and Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from University of Jos, and Nigerian Institute of Journalism, respectively. He has a Master’s degree  in Development Studies from the Nigerian Defense Academy; Adedayo  is also a graduate of Cato University where he studied Philosophy, History, Jurisprudence, and Economics of Liberty, and has completed the Atlas Economic Research Foundation’s Think Tank MBA program in Washington D.C.